October 2008

So how do you like our new newsletter format? Pretty fancy, huh? We’ve gotten many nice comments on it right away. Thank you for that. We’ve also gotten a lot of great comments on our new CD, Big Round World. Just in case you missed it, our new CD was released on September 9th. Later that month, we learned that it was named a 2008 National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA) Gold winner.

This CD is a 14-song collection of all new material. It is our first full-length, self-produced project and we’re very proud of it. Wouldn’t it be great if this one got a Grammy? If elected to the Grammys, we promise to bring change and stability to a shaky entertainment industry. We’ll unite disparate musical styles and bring about an era of trans-partisan cooperation where the common musician can rub shoulders with the elite. Where country and jazz music, yes, even banjo music can stand as equals! Thank you.

A New Song
Some of you may have heard our new song about Sudoku. A couple of years ago, Trout was playing a show in Miami, OK. Two women in our audience (Wendy Huckeba and Chantelle Cory) spoke with Keith and introduced him to Sudoku puzzles. Keith was interested and they gave him a few puzzles on the condition that one day he would write a song about them. Keith promised he would try. Since then, he has become hopelessly addicted to Sudoku and has wasted thousands of hours in the airports of America working them. Recently, he started some lyrics about Sudoku and brought them to Ezra. He liked them and said he heard banjo music. But the insult deepened as he explained that he heard banjo music imitating Mexican accordion sounds. A Sudoku song has been born and it must be heard to be believed. So thank you to Wendy and Chantelle. By the way, Keith thinks the next Trout song should be about money and he wants someone to give him some money so he can contemplate it.

Fall is Here
It is October and this is traditionally our busiest month of the year. On looking at the calendar, you’ll notice we’re staying a bit closer to home for October and November, with shows in Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana. The month kicks off with a trip to Shreveport, LA and the Red River Revel, always one of our favorites. Great friends, great art, great music, and great food… what more do you need? Then we head to Dallas, TX and a return to Uncle Calvin’s Coffeehouse, where we always have a good time. Then it’s over to Fort Worth for Library Fest, a world-class event that’s perfect for everyone in the family. The Texas part of the tour continues with stops in Wimberley, Corpus Christi, and finishes with Houston’s McGonigel’s Mucky Duck. We then return to Arkansas and you can bet the weather will be even cooler than it is right now. Fall is a good time for sitting in front of the fireplace working Sudoku puzzles.